Resolution no. 21821

Order, pursuant to article 7-octies, paragraph 1, letter b) of Legislative Decree no. 58/1998 ("Consolidated Law on Finance") to cease the infringement of article 18 of the Consolidated Law on Finance carried out through the https://investigrams.com website

LA COMMISSIONE NAZIONALE PER LE SOCIETÀ E LA BORSA
[THE NATIONAL COMMISSION FOR COMPANIES AND THE STOCK EXCHANGE]

HAVING REGARD TO Law no. 216 of 7 June 1974 and subsequent amendments and supplements;

HAVING REGARD TO Legislative Decree no. 58 of 24 February 1998 ("Consolidated Law on Finance") and subsequent amendments and supplements;

HAVING ESTABLISHED that, from checks on the https://investigrams.com website, it emerged that:

i. the https://investigrams.com website offers the possibility of performing trading transactions on CFDs with indices, shares, currencies, cryptocurrencies and commodities as their underlying assets through the platform known as "Metatrader 5";

ii. in order to trade, registration with the https://investigrams.com site is required via an online procedure, and one of the accounts advertised there opened. In particular, there are six types of account available known as "Student", "Starter", "Premium", "Advanced", "Pro" and "VIP", depending on the minimum deposit required and the associated benefits;

iii. the aforesaid Investigram Ltd, with stated address in Saint Vincent and The Grenadines, is indicated at the foot of the pages and in the contractual terms and conditions of the https://investigrams.com site;

HAVING REGARD TO Consob Resolution no. 21764 of 11 March 2021, which ordered the company Investigram Ltd to cease its infringement of article 18 of the Consolidated Law on Finance conducted through the separate www.investigram.com website;

WHEREAS, in addition to using a domain that is partially superimposable on that of the above www.investigram.com website, the https://investigrams.com domain replicates the content and graphic format of the said www.investigram.com site;

WHEREAS the activity carried out through the https://investigrams.com website can be classed as the provision of investment services as referred to in article 1, paragraph 5, of the Consolidated Law on Finance, insofar as clients are offered the opportunity of opening a trading account against which purchase and/or sale orders for financial instruments can be issued;

WHEREAS the aforementioned transactions, carried out through the https://investigrams.com website, are still ongoing and are aimed at Italian investors since, amongst other things, a Facebook page, available in Italian, has been identified on the web, which advertises the activity carried out through the said site to which it redirects via a specific link;

WHEREAS the company Investigram Ltd, mentioned on the https://investigrams.com website, is not authorised to engage in the provision of investment services to the Italian public, since it does not appear on the register maintained by Consob pursuant to article 20 of the Consolidated Law on Finance;

HAVING REGARD TO the requirement to hold a relevant licence in order to provide investment services, as per article 18, paragraph 1, of the Consolidated Law on Finance, pursuant to which "The professional provision of investment services and activities to the public is reserved to Italian Investment firms, EU investment firms, Italian banks, EU banks and non-EU firms";

HAVING ESTABLISHED, therefore, that the operations in question qualify as the professional provision of investment services to the Italian public, in infringement of art. 18, paragraph 1 of the Consolidated Law on Finance;

HAVING REGARD TO the fact that, according to the provisions of article 7-octies, letter b) of the Consolidated Law on Finance - "Powers to counteract unauthorised provision of investment sevices" - Consob "may, with regard to anyone who offers or carries out investment services or activities through the Internet without being qualified pursuant to this decree: […] b) order that the infringement cease";

CONSIDERING it therefore necessary, in the light of the foregoing, to adopt this Resolution immediately for reasons of urgency;

RESOLVES:

To order the cessation of the infringement of article 18 of Legislative Decree no. 58/1998 carried out through the https://investigrams.com website, consisting in offering and providing investment services and activities to the Italian public.

This Resolution shall be brought to the attention of the concerned parties and will be published in the Consob Bulletin.

This measure may be appealed before the Regional Administrative Court of Lazio within 60 days of the date of service.

28 April 2021

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona